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submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

Donald Trump berated Mike Pence, calling his then-vice president a "wimp" during their final phone call on Jan. 6, 2021, hours before Congress certified the 2020 election of Joe Biden, according to Pence's previously unpublished notes included in a new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.

According to court filings, had his case against Trump gone to trial, special counsel Jack Smith planned to use the handwritten notes -- hastily scribbled on Pence's day planner -- as evidence to document the hours before Trump allegedly directed a violent mob to storm the Capitol.

"You'll go down as a wimp," Trump told Pence about his decision not to block Biden's certification, according to Pence's notes about the call on the morning of Jan. 6, just before the president took the stage at the "Save America" rally on the Ellipse. "If you do that, I made a big mistake 5 years ago," Pence wrote Trump told him.

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[-] iamacar@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

Simply doing his job should not gain him respect. But that’s how low the bar is for these asshats.

[-] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Didn't he have threats on his life for doing it? I think that's respectable even if he's not a good person in other ways. We all know many people that would simply capitulate in those circumstances.

[-] iamacar@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I can see your point but to me that’s like watching goodfellas and at the end saying Henry was a good guy after all because he testified against the mob.

Pence was between a rock and a hard place and made a decision based on himself more than saving America or whatever. Looking back, I wonder if he would have tried to go along with the coup, would that have been better long term. It’s doubtful it would have worked, and maybe some real action with consequences would have come about. Now we are stuck with Trump as a dictator.

[-] AlexanderTheDead@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

No, it's not, because that's not what was said.

Commenter literally says "on that one decision", and you constructed a strawman as if the commenter was saying that one decision made up for his past mistakes.

this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2025
267 points (98.9% liked)

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